2012

The Top 25 TechCrunch Posts From 2012

Twenty twelve was a big year for tech news. Facebook went public, Instagram was purchased for $1B, and Apple released rehashes of previous products. But that’s just a small sampling.…

The Top 25 TechCrunch Posts From 2012

Apple will launch an ebook service in Japan fueled with content from top local publishers, according to Japanese financial publication Nikkei (via The Digital Reader). Apple will begin selling Japanese…

Apple Partners With Local Publishers To Launch EBook Service In Japan

Legimi is definitely a startup I’ll be watching closely in 2013. Put simply, it aims to be the ‘Spotify for ebooks,’ in which for a monthly subscription, users get access…

Legimi Wants To Be The ‘Spotify For Ebooks’ With A Business Model That Relies On You Reading Less

There we were, circled around a bachelor party campfire and drunk on keg beer, discussing the viability of using Kickstarter to fund a sex toy startup. My buddy Dan (he…

2012: The Year Crowdfunding Was Kickstarted Into The Mainstream

TechCrunch Makers: Bossa Nova Robotics & Mobi

When I first saw Bossa Nova Robotics Mobi I was amazed. It was a robot that stood on a single, large ball and could roll through tight spaces and between…

TechCrunch Makers: Bossa Nova Robotics & Mobi

There can be little doubt Nokia’s mobile glory days are behind it. Samsung now occupies its former throne at the top of the global mobile tree and Google’s Android is…

Innovate Or Die: Nokia’s Long-Drawn-Out Decline

The Maximum, Beautiful Product

For years, all of us in Silicon Valley and its outposts have embraced the idea of the lean startup, shipping the minimum viable product, failing fast and iterating quickly based…

The Maximum, Beautiful Product

Just when you think that we’ve innovated all that we can, something new comes along and completely blows our mind. It could be an advancement in hardware, software or just…

Innovation: Where Can We Go From Here? A Lot Of Places, Actually

Following its lengthy Christmas Eve outage, Netflix is again experiencing issues today, according to a message posted on the Netflix website, dozens of reports from users on Twitter, and other…

Netflix Goes Down: Company Says Only DVD Website Affected

A joyous moment has come — the idea that you need a director of social media is beginning to lose its myth status. For me, it says that maybe in…

Fire The Head of Social Media And Make These 10 Wishes Come True

How big is Christmas for mobile app developers? For one San Francisco Bay Area-based game maker, it meant 2 million downloads in a single day. Christmas is unsurprisingly the biggest…

Storm8 Grabs 2M Downloads In One Day On Christmas

Design-focused e-commerce site Fab.com has been having a good year (and a half), and thanks to the massive 100-plus page slideshow the company has now shared, it has the figures…

Fab Looks Back At Past 18 Months: 10 Million Members, 4.3 Million Products Sold

A brand new year is upon us, and it’s time to start thinking about the changes you want to make. But it can be difficult to follow through on New…

7 Apps That Will Keep Your New Year’s Resolutions Alive

The world needs more people in skin tight lululemon and short shorts that would make even the UPS man blush. Our culture’s healthy obsession with running in large circles helps…

Lace Up Your Shoes, RunKeeper 3.0 Hits In Time For New Years With A New Interface And Improved Social Features

Samsung has sold its millionth Galaxy Note II “phablet” in South Korea just over 90 days after its launch, according to MK News (via Sammy Hub, h/t to TNW). The South…

Samsung Sells Millionth Galaxy Note II In Its Domestic Market

I’m Bored. What’s Next?

It’s just about 2013 and I gotta say, I’m a little bored. At least, the blogger in me is. As an investor things are just peachy. All this panic about…

I’m Bored. What’s Next?

Samsung and Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile communication company, are joining forces to develop Tizen, an open source OS that supporters hope will cut into the 90% marketshare held by Google…

Samsung And DoCoMo Reportedly Team Up To Offer Tizen Smartphones In 2013

Biegert & Funk has made a name for itself thanks to its iconic clock design that tells time the way we tend to convey it to one another in conversation…

The QLOCKTWO W By Biegert & Funk Is A Timepiece For Literate Lovers Of Good Design

After 15 years, Yahoo completed its exit from South Korea today, reports Yonhap News Agency. This move also marks the first Asian market that Yahoo is leaving.

Yahoo Bids Farewell to South Korea, Completes Exit

Pakistan lifted, then very quickly reinstated its ban on YouTube after a few hours when efforts by the government to filter out blasphemous material provided unsuccessful. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf…

Pakistan’s YouTube Ban Is Lifted And Then Reinstated As Observers Worry About Internet Freedom

Chinese telecommunications manufacturing giant Huawei is once again in hot water over allegedly playing loose with trade sanctions. One of Huawei Technologies key Iranian partners reportedly offered to sell embargoed…

Chinese Telecom Giant Huawei Accused Of Offering Embargoed HP Equipment To Iranian Companies

Advertising is something that we’ve all grown accustomed to in today’s society. For companies that provide free services, it’s an important part of keeping those services free for everyone to…

With A Flick Of The Wrist, Facebook Could Destroy Current Advertising Models

We had a bit of a false alarm today, when TechCrunch’s Kim-Mai Cutler spotted a bankruptcy sign on the door of the i/o Ventures building in San Francisco’s Mission District. We guessed…

Don’t Be Alarmed By The Bankruptcy Sign Outside I/O Ventures

Depending on who you ask, Google+ is either a thriving social network and the most important backbone of Google’s social efforts, or a deserted wasteland where a small clique of…

Will Google+ Ever Get A Full Read/Write API?

Executing the cost-reduction plan CEO Mark Pincus announced in November, Zynga has shut down, pulled from the app stores, or stopped accepting new players to 11 games, with some turning off…

Game Over: Zynga Shuts Down PetVille And 10 Other Titles To Cut Costs

2012: TechCrunch Year In Review

January: We started the year at CES where it was clear that Samsung is the new Apple. Late January brought the Crunchies, our annual awards fest where we gave Dropbox…

2012: TechCrunch Year In Review

Discoverability, collapsing social game models, failing gamification and weak levels of excitement for new gaming platforms have all conspired to make 2012 a complicated year for games. For some this…

The Games Industry Is Driven By Marketing Stories

Road Tripping In The Digital Age

I’m just wrapping up a week-long road trip, in which a travel companion and I visited some friends in Southern California. We only booked one night’s stay ahead of time,…

Road Tripping In The Digital Age

Back in 2008, Jonathan Nelson was working as an ER nurse and tinkering on code at home in his spare time. As someone who wasn’t a full-time engineer, he had…

How Hackers/Founders Grew From Beer-Filled Bar Meetups To Full-On Startup Incubator [TCTV]

CrunchWeek: The Year-End Wrap Up

It’s CrunchWeek time, wherein a few of us writers turn on the TechCrunch TV cameras and shoot the breeze about some of the past week’s most interesting stories. This week,…